Stocking



2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Patented lune I3, |899.

w. 'n. HusE.

STOCKING.

(Application ledSe'pt. 1, 1898.)

vNo. 626,864.

(Specimens.)

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nu: Noam: verras cn.. HvwmxlmwwAsMmo'roN, u. c.

N6. 626,864. Patented lune 13, |699.

f w. D. HusE.

STOCKING.

(Application filed Sept. 1, 1898.) (Specimens.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'WARREN D. I-IUSE, OE LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

' STOCKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,864, dated June 13, 1899. Application led September 1, 1898. Serial No. 689,984. (Specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WARREN D. I-IUSE, of Laconia, county of Belknap, State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Stockings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention has for its object to provide a novel and improved knit stocking, my principal aim being to provide a stocking that can be produced entirelyT upon one machine and be as commercial as the stockings of different constructions heretofore produced partly on one and partly on another machine.

Prior to my invention it has been common to knit the leg portion of a stocking in ribstitch upon one machine, and then transfer such leg portion from the rib-machine upon which it was knit to a plain-stitch machine upon which the foot portion, including the toe and heel portions of the stocking, have been knit.

To enable the operator to make the transfer ofthe rib-leg to the plain-footing machine, it has been customary, so far as I am aware, to knit the last course of the rib-leg quite loose, much looser, in fact, than the body of the leg portion; otherwise the transfer to the needles of the plain-footing machine could not readily be made.

In knitting the leg portion a relatively light yarn has been employed, partly because the leg is subjected to less Wear than the foot and partly because the rib-stitch of the leg contains more stitches to the inch in circumference than the plain stitch employed in thefoot.

In knitting the plain foot'a relatively heavy yarn is usually employed; but the Weight or size of the yarn and numberof stitches employed in the foot have been selected solely with reference to the knitting and wear of the foot and without any reference Whatever to the size of yarn and number of stitches employedin the leg, which latter has also and arbitrarily been determined solely with reference to the knitting of the 'leg and the Wear thereupon.

In making the transfer from the ribleg machine to the plain-foot machine any variation in the number of stitches in the leg, as

compared with that provided for in the foot, has been compensated for by skipping or doubling ori-that is, if the number of ribstitches in the leg was less than the number of cylinder-needles in the foot-machine certain of the cylinder-needles would be skipped in making the transfer from one machine to the otherand if, as has usually been the case, the number of rib-stitches in the leg portion exceeded the number of cylinderneedles in the plain machine the difference Wouldnbe compensated for by what is known as doubling ouvthat is, applying two or more stitches to one cylinder-needle-this doubling on being distributed around Athe cylinder of the machine, so as to make the Work as uniform as possible. Thus While it has been common to knit a foot in plain stitch and with one Weight of yarn and a leg in ribstitch With a lighter yarn no attempt whatever has been made to proportion the number of stitches in the foot to the number of stitches in'theleg and to proportion the Weight of the respective yarns in either the leg or the foot to the number of stitches in the foot or the leg and there` has been no necessity therefor. The Weight of the yarn and the number of stitches employed in the foot and in the leg have been arbitrarily selected and Without any reference whatever to the Weight of yarn and number of stitches employed in the leg or the foot, and it has been a practical impossibility to dispense with skipping or doubling in making the transfer, from one machine to the other.

To obviate the transfer of the work and the consequentincrease in vcost of output, at-

`failure, because the size of the yarn vnecessary to produce a foot of the required diameter with stitches corresponding to the number of cylinder-needles has been found eX- IOO v the rib-leg, and simultaneously with they cessively heavy for the leg and to produce a leg of abnormal diameter when the extra number of stitches necessarily produced by the dial-needles are introduced in the formation of the leg. This added weight also has made it impossible to carrythe eXpansible,z leg portion of a stocking so knit down to or" below the small ankle portion of the leg, as is desirable in a thoroughly commercial stockg ing.

In an effort to correct this a yarn proper for the leg has been employed, one which would produce a proper rib-leg; but when this same yarn was continued in the formationof the foot with thev cylinder-needles alone the less number of stitches produced in the foot have been insufficient to produce the required diameter and formation of foot.

My invention contemplates a foot knit in plain stitch upon the cylinder-needles of al usual manner ou the cylinder-needles, thedial-needles are thrown into action to produce throwing in of the dial-needles the yarn is changed to a lighter yarn, the difference between the yarn employed in the foot and leg portions having direct reference tot-he differl ence in the number of stitches employed in the foot and leg, the decrease in'size or weight of yarn being just sufficient to compensate for the added number of stitches thrown into the work by the introduction of the dial-needles and their stitches, so thatl the iinal product is a stocking wherein the foot is knit in plain stitch and with as many rows of stitches as there are at one face of the leg portion-for example, the outer faceand with a yarn employed in the leg portion which, as compared with that in the foot portion, is exactly what is necessary to maintain i the proper diameter with the added number of stitches employed in the leg. Thus my stocking differs from stocking heretofore produced, either by transfer or on one machine, in that my stocking alwayshas in the foot the same number of rows of plain stitches as are employed at one face of the rib-leg without any opportunity for or necessity of doubling or skippingv and also in that the yarns employed in the foot and leg are each graded as to their weight or size with direct reference to the number of stitches in the leg and the foot, whereby the less and fixed number of stitches in the foot with the greater weight of yarn produces exactly the required dialneter of foot for the leg, the latter, with its added number of stitches, having a yarn just enough lighter than the foot-yarn to compensate for the added number of stitches and produce the required diameter of the leg.

My invention further comprehends knitting the toe and heel portions wit-l1 a third yet heavier or reinforced yarn.

In the following specication in connection with the accompanying drawings, I will describe my invention in the best form now known to me, it being understood, however, that my invention is not to be limited to the speciiic form herein shown and described.

In the drawings, Figure l in elevation, part perspective, shows a sufiicient portion of stocking embodying my invention to enable the invention to be understood; Fig. 2, a horizontal section through the rib-leg at about the dotted line as; Fig. 3, a horizontal section through a part of the plain foot at about the dotted line Fig. 4, apartial section through the heel at aboutthe dotted line 002 :112.

Referring to the drawings, in the embodiment of my invention there shown the foot portion A is iirst knit inusual plain stitch upon the cylinder-needles of a rib-stitch inachine. In knitting this foot the weight or size of yarn employedis directly proportioned to the number of cylinder-needles employed and to the gage of such needles, so as to produce the required diameter of foot. Having knit the foot with plain stitches in this manner, the dial-needles of the rib-stitch machine are thrown into action and the leg B thereafter knit upon'and in continuation of the foot, but in rib-stitch.

Of course in changing from plain to rib stitch upon the same machine no skipping or doublingl is possible. Hence the number of rows of plain stitches ct a in the foot (see Fig. 3) exactly and necessarily equals the number of stitch es at one of the faces or sides, usually the outside, of the rib-leg, as best shown by a comparison of Fig. 2 with Fig. 3. By reference to Fig. 2, however, it will be seen that in knitting the rib-leg the stitches l) produced by the dial-needles at the opposite face of the fabric from the stitches a, increase the total number of stitches in the circumference of the leg as compared with the circumference of the foot.4 To prevent any distortion of the article by suddenly throwing in this added number of stitches, my invention conte1nplates simultaneously with the change from plain to rib knitting a change of yarn or thread from the size or weight, Fig. 3, employed in the foot to a lighter or smaller yarn, Fig. 2, the size or weight of the yarn, Fig. 2, in the rib-leg being directly proportioned to the number of stitches and size of yarn employed in the foot, whereby the full or substantially the same diameter of the stocking is maintained without doubling or skipping. My invention therefore for the irst time comprehends a stocking having a foot knit in plain stitch and a leg knit in rib-stitch, with the number of rows of plain stitches in the foot exactly corresponding ,with the number of rows of stitches at one face of the rib-leg and ICO IIO

with the relative sizes of yarn employed in the foot and leg inversely proportonedto the number of stitches employed in the leg and foot, whereby substantially the same or required diameter of foot and leg may be obtained, notwithstanding the increased number of stitches in the leg as compared with the foot, whichincrease remains the same on stockings knit on one machine.

In addition to the foregoing I also preferably employ a third yet heavier yarn in the heel and toe, as best shown at c', Fig. 4, for the purpose of better resisting the wear at those points.

It is perfectly clear that without doubling or skipping if the change was maderfrom plain to rib knitting'by throwing in the dialneedles without simultaneously and proportionately changing the yarn the fewer number of stitches in the circle of the foot would naturally produce a more open fabric, which would tend to contract in diameter as compared with the leg, because the extra number of stitches in the latter tend to hold it distended. All this is avoided by my invention.

The saving in cost of knitting a stocking involving my invention 'as compared with prior methods of knitting stockings is very the stockings to be made at a commercial price, the number of rows of rib-stitches em ployed in theleg of the stocking, knit as heretofore on two machines, has been kept as low as possible. Hence-when expanded as necessary to fit the shape of the leg the stitches in the expanded portions of the legare so opened as to produce a distinctly different effect from that produced by those portions of the stocking thatare not so expanded, there not being sufficient rows of stitches to permit any considerable stretching without opening the interstices between the stitches. invention, however, the number of needles orrows of stitches inforced in the leg is so much greater than heretofore that the leg may be stretched sufficiently to nicely fit the leg at all points, yet without producing any perceptible difference in the effect produced or the apparent character of the knitting, because there are so many rows of stitches that the required expansion doesnot open the stitches of any row sufficiently to make them distinguishable from the stitches in the the leg that are not so obtain this casmaller portions of stretched. Furthermore, I

By my pacity for expansion by using this large number of rows of stitches without making the small ankle portion of the stocking bulky, because the reduced yarn employed in the leg is so proportioned to the number of stitches, as described, that the ankle is maintained of substantially the same diameter as the top of the plain knit foot. This definite reduction in size of the yarn simultaneously with the change from plain to rib knitting that maintains the ribbed ankle substantially of the same diameter and thickness as the top of the foot also enables me in my improved stocking to carry the highly-expansible ribbed knit portion quite to the top of the foot, as shown in the drawings, thus to provide the shapely fit and nice expansion there needed about the ankle without making such ankle portion so thick as to preclude its being worn, which would be and has been the case where, as heretofore, attempts have been made to carry such ribbed portion with so many needles down to or below the ankle portion.

The term heavier yarn as employed herein does not denote necessarily a yarn heavier, in actual weight, but is employed to indicate a stiffer, larger, or bulkier and it may also be heavier yarn, thatby reason of its in creased size, bulk, or character will compensate for a less numberof stitches and maintain the fabric at substantially the same size or diameter as would be the case were the original yarn with the greater number of stitches employed.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

As an article of manufacture, a seamless stocking knit on one machine, ithaving a foot portion knit in plain stitch and aleg portion knit in rib-stitch, with the same number of rows of stitches at one ribbed face as the number of rows of stitches in the plain foot portion, said plain foot and ribbed leg portions being knit respectively with relatively heavy.

and light yarns, the relative weights of which are in inverse ratio or proportion to the relative number of stitches in said foot and leg portions of the stocking, whereby an eXpansible leg portion is produced having'the number of rows of stitches described, without increase of diameter of the same at its smallest part when contracted.

In ltestimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WARREN D. I'IUSE.

Vitnesses:

EDMUND LITTLE, GEO. P. lNIUNsEY.

IOC 

